Antiemetic for Homesickness

Antiemetic for Homesickness by Romalyn Ante

In Antiemetic for Homesickness, Romalyn Ante weaves a poignant and powerful exploration of migration, identity, and belonging. The collection pulses with the ache of displacement, yet radiates resilience, tenderness, and the enduring pull of home. She navigates the emotional odyssey of migration, where memory becomes both a source of longing and healing. Everyday objects handkerchiefs, cassette tapes, rosary beads serve as anchors, reminders that even when bodies are far from home, something vital endures: "A day will come when you won't miss / the country na nagluwal sa 'yo."

The collection does not romanticise the past, but instead captures the complex layers of longing shifting from sharp ache to quiet nostalgia. Antiemetic for Homesickness itself offers a metaphorical cure for this yearning, while acknowledging the process of adaptation and survival: "You will learn to heal the wounds / of their lives and the wounds of yours."

Through vivid, often startling imagery, Romalyn paints the immigrant as both traveler and keeper of stories. In "The Making of a Smuggler" packing becomes a way of preserving heritage while navigating the pain of new worlds: "Wherever we travel, we carry / the whole country with us."

Romalyn also explores identity and self-worth in poems like "Kayumanggi", where she challenges societal narratives of colourism, transforming scars into symbols of beauty and resilience: "God moulded people from clay. He was hasty once, / not firing the first clump of clay-men long enough."

There are also interesting poems like "Invisible Women", where Romalyn gives voice to the unseen labor of immigrant women, their quiet strength and unacknowledged sacrifices, as captured in the image of a mother walking to work before dawn: "My mother walks to work when the sky is black / and comes out from work when the sky is black."

There is no doubt that Antiemetic for Homesickness is a masterful collection, marked by its quiet, unyielding power. Romalyn invites readers into a space where personal history, cultural memory, and universal themes of belonging intertwine, offering a healing balm for the complex realities of migration and the deep, unshakable connection to home.